Tesco no longer pursuing Coles

Tesco has decided not to pursue a bid for Australian retailer Coles Group. The withdrawal of interest from Britain's biggest supermarket group would leave Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers and a consortium including private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to battle it out for Coles.

Tesco appointed Merrill Lynch to look into a Coles offer, sources confirmed last week. Sources also pointed out Tesco usually does not buy into a mature market but prefers to set up on its own in emerging markets.

"They viewed it as a massive turnaround being required and a huge resource commitment," the source said, referring to Coles, which has a market capitalisation of A$21 billion (€12.9 billion) and has been losing market share to rival Woolworths.

(Source: The Scotsman)